![](https://cdn.statically.io/img/deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/MCDGUOF_EC248.jpg?w=681&h=383&crop=1)
As the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand, those looking to further immerse themselves into the superhero world might find watching the films in chronological, or timeline order versus release order helpful.
In order of release, the films came out in phases. The Infinity Saga has three phases. Phase one consists of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Avengers. Phase 2 contains Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. Phase Three contains Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From Home.
The Multiverse Saga contains two planned phases so far. Phase Four has reached completion with Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Phase Five so far includes Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and The Marvels.
Of course, there is nothing wrong with release order, as watching the movies in that way exposes a viewer to how the MCU evolved over time as did CGI. To trace character arcs and how all the installments stack up in terms of the order of the story, though, chronological order will help examine the easter eggs and post credits in a new light.
-
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (2011)
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection / Ph: Jay Maidment/Marvel Studios©2011 MVLFFLL It all stars with Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger which came out in 2011.
-
CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019)
Image Credit: Disney Brie Larson starred in Captain Marvel, which comes next in the timeline even though it was released in 2019.
-
IRON MAN (2008)
Image Credit: Paramount / Courtesy Everett Collection Robert Downey Jr. brought Tony Stark into the mix in Iron Man (2008).
-
IRON MAN 2 (2010)
Image Credit: ©Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection Robert Downey Jr. and Don Cheadle starred in 2010’s Iron Man 2.
-
THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)
Image Credit: ©Universal/courtesy Everett Collection William Hurt appeared in The Incredible Hulk (2008) alongside Edward Norton’s Bruce Banner before Mark Ruffalo took on the green monster mantle.
-
THOR (2011)
Image Credit: ©Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Chris Hemsworth entered the fray as Thor in 2011.
-
THE AVENGERS (2012)
Image Credit: ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection The Avengers originally consisted of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk when the first film came out in 2012.
-
THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013)
Image Credit: ph: Jay Maidment/©Walt Disney Studios/courtesy Everett Collection Chris Hemsworth came back as Thor in Thor: The Dark World (2013).
-
IRON MAN 3 (2013)
Image Credit: ph: Zade Rosenthal/©Walt Disney Pictures/Courtsey Everett Collection Robert Downey Jr. reprised the role of Iron Man in Iron Man 3.
-
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (2014)
Image Credit: ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
-
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2014)
Image Credit: Disney/Everett Dave Bautista, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt and more make up Guardians of the Galaxy, who were introduced in 2014.
-
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2
Image Credit: Disney Zoe Saldaña, Karen Gillan, Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista reprised their roles in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017).
-
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015)
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection Chris Evans portrayed Captain America in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).
-
ANT-MAN (2015)
Image Credit: ph: Zade Rosenthal/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Paul Rudd came on the scene as Ant-Man in 2015.
-
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (2016)
Image Credit: Courtesy Of Disney Sebastian Stan came back as Bucky Barnes in Captain America: Civil War after Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
-
BLACK WIDOW (2021)
Image Credit: Marvel Scarlett Johansen’s Natasha Romanoff got a film installment all to herself in 2021.
-
BLACK PANTHER (2018)
Image Credit: © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection Chadwick Boseman played T’Challa/Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) in Black Panther (2018).
-
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
Image Credit: Sony Tom Holland entered the MCU as Peter Parker in the first of three films: Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017.
-
DOCTOR STRANGE (2016)
Image Credit: Marvel Benedict Cumberbatch brought Dr. Strange to life in the 2016 film.
-
THOR RAGNAROK (2017)
Image Credit: Disney Thor’s third MCU installment was 2017’s Thor Ragnarok.
-
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP (2018)
Image Credit: Disney Ant-Man and the Wasp came out in 2018 introducing Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp.
-
AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR (2018)
Image Credit: ph: Chuck Zlotnick /© Marvel / © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection In Avengers: Infinity War, an army amasses including (L-R) Danai Gurira as Okoye, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, 2018.
-
AVENGERS: ENDGAME (2019)
Image Credit: Film Frame In 2019, the world forever changed with this epic scene preceded by the words, “Avengers, assemble!”
-
SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021)
Image Credit: © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / © Marvel Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection Michelle Yeoh played Ying Nan and Simu Liu played Shang-Chi in the 2021 film.
-
SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (2019)
Image Credit: ph: Jay Maidment / © Columbia Pictures / © Marvel / courtesy Everett Collection Jake Gyllenhaal played the villain in Tom Holland’s second Spider-Man film in 2019.
-
ETERNALS (2021)
Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Marvel Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection The cast of Eternals included (L-R) Lauren Ridloff, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan, Lia McHugh, Ma Dong-seok, Angelina Jolie, Brian Tyree Henry, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden and Gemma Chan.
-
SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (2021)
Image Credit: ph: Matt Kennedy / © Sony Pictures Releasing / © Marvel Entertainment / Courtesy Everett Collection Zendaya and Tom Holland in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021).
-
DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022)
Image Credit: Disney Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda is a villain of sorts in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).
-
BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Image Credit: Marvel/Walt Disney Co./Everett Collection Dorothy Steel, Florence Kasumba, Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022).
-
THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER
Image Credit: Jasin Boland / © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / © Marvel Studios / Courtesy Everett Collection Natalie Portman reprised her role of Jane, aka Mighty Thor, alongside Chris Hemsworth’s Thor in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022).
-
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP: QUANTUMANIA (2023)
Image Credit: Disney Kathryn Newton and Paul Rudd starred in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023).
-
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2023)
Image Credit: Marvel / Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 focused on Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) in 2023.
-
THE MARVELS (2023)
Image Credit: ph: Laura Radford / © Marvel / © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection The Marvels starred Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel in addition to Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau.